Feeder



Jan. 20, 1970 c. w. VOGT 3,490,391

FEEDER Filed Dec. 14, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 516.1 I 3 IO 6O INVENTOR CLARENC E W. VOGT 72 MM. @m,m%%@ w ATTORNEYS C. W. VOGT FEEDER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1966 ATTORNEYS United States Patent3,490,391 FEEDER Clarence W. Vogt, Box 232, Westport, Conn. 06880 FiledDec. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 601,792

Int. Cl. A210 3/10 US. Cl. 10715 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThis subject has to do with a feeder which includes a pocketed rotorwhich continuously rotates and presents the pockets thereof first to aninlet of a housing in which the rotor is mounted for rotation and thento an outlet of that housing. A valve structure is provided foreffecting fluid flow into and out of the pockets from the interior ofthe rotor whereby a vacuum may be drawn in the pockets to pull materialinto the pockets and to also draw out some of the gases present in thematerial, and thereafter compressed gases are forced into the pockets todrive the material out of the pockets, the surface of the pocketscontacted by the material having a high release coefficient with respectto the material being handled.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in feeders, andmore particularly to continuous feeders having a rotor assemblyrotatably mounted within a housing, with the rotor assembly havingpockets which are sequentially presented to an inlet of the housing andthen to an outlet thereof.

A principal feature of this invention resides in the construction of therotor assembly and more particularly in the forming of the pockets ofthe rotor assembly with a material which not only may be of an open meshconstruction so as to permit the passage of gases and graded in size toprevent the passage of particles of the material being handled, but alsowhich presents a surface having a high release coeflicient with respectto the material being handled, so as to prevent sticking of material tothe pockets. A further requirement of the material is that it isrelatively inexpensive. In the past, I have formed the pockets of rotorassemblies for feeders of sintered materials including stainless steeland polyethylene. While these materials are excellent filters, there isa tendency for material being handled by the feeder, particularlyrelatively sticky materials, such as bread dough, to stick the surfaceof the sintered materials. In addition, the cost of the sinteredmaterials has been very high.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide a novelpocket forming member which may be readily varied in construction inaccordance with the material being handled and which principallyconsists of a wire screen basket-like member which may be readilyanchored within a recess in a rotor and which may have the openingstherein graded in accordance with the material :being handled, andwherein the basket-like member may be supplemented by either a secondbasket-like member of finer mesh, a fabric material, or both, inaccordance with the particle size of the material being handled.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel pocket formingfilter member for a rotor of a continuous feeder which is formed of arelatively inexpensive material, which has the necessary filtercharacteristics and wherein at least the exposed surface thereof has ahigh release coefficient. I have found that a woven cloth wherein thestrands thereof running in at least one direction are formed of TeflonTFE, which is a tetrafluoroethylene polymer, or like materials havingrelease c0- efiicient characteristics, to be sufficiently inexpensiveand at the same time to perform the necessary function.

Another feature of this invention is the use of a bandlike strip ofmaterial in the securement of the pocket forming members to the rotor,the band-like strip of material having an outer surface having a highrelease coeflicient and which also provides an effective seal betweenthe rotor and an associated housing.

A further feature of this invention is to provide a divider for cohesivematerial which includes a housing having an inlet and a rotor assemblyrotating within the housing, the rotor assembly having pockets which aresequentially presented to th inlet, and there being mounted within theinlet at one side thereof in the direction of rotation of the rotor afeed roller which closely opposes the rotor assembly in contactingrelation, there being means for driving the opposed surfaces of therotor assembly and the feed roller in a like direction whereby materialin the inlet is squeezed into the rotor pockets and material within therotor pockets is separated from the material in the inlet as a rotorpocket passes out of alignment with the inlet.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel valveforming stator member for use in combination with a rotating rotorassembly, the stator having a cross section generally resembling adumbbell and being provided at the opposite ends thereof with endplates, the stator having pairs of grooves extending axially therealongand opening into the end plates and each end plate having an annulargroove connecting the ends of each pair of grooves, and there being asingle continuous sealingmember seated in each pair of axially extendinggrooves and the associated pair of annular grooves to form a completeseal between the stator and the rotor around a pas sage formed betweenthe stator and the rotor.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear,the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by referenceto the following detailed description, the appended claims and theseveral views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a feeder formed in accordance with thisinvention and shows generally the details thereof, portions being brokenaway and shown in section.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of blank elements from which a pocket formingelement is formed.

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of a pocket forming member anda portion of a retainer for holding the same within the rotor.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through the feeder along theline 44 of FIGURE 1 and shows the specific details thereof.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through thefeeder along line 55 of FIGURE 4 and shows further the details thereof.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken through aportion of the rotor along the line 66 of FIGURE 5 and showsspecifically the details of one of the pockets.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of a portion of oneof the pockets and shows specifically the details of its pocket formingmember.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken through therotor along the line 8-8 of FIGURE 6 and shows further the details ofthe rotor pocket.

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken through one of the screenwires and shows the coating thereon.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there isillustrated in FIGURES 1, 4 and 5, in particular, a feeder which isformed in accordance with this invention, the feeder being generallyreferred to by the numeral 10. At this time, it is pointed out that theterm feeder is intended to cover a mechanism which Will function to movea product from a supply source to a delivery point and in doing so, itmay function as a divider in certain instances, as a filler in otherinstances, and a mixer in still further instances.

Basically, the feeder 10 includes a housing 11, a rotor assembly 12mounted within the housing for continuous rotation, and a valve assembly13. It is to be understood that the construction of the rotor assembly12 and the surfaces contacted thereby and by a product delivered to therotor assembly constitute the major features of this invention, andtherefore, other features of the feeder 10 have been only schematicallyillustrated for purposes of simplicity.

The housing 11 has been simply illustrated as including a body 14 ofrectangular form which has the opposite ends thereof closed by plates 15and 16. The body 14 has a cylindrical opening 17 therein in which therotor assembly 12 is mounted. The body 14 is configurated to define aninlet 18 and an outlet 20.

The valve assembly is carried by the end plate 15 and includes amounting plate 21 which is removably secured to the end plate 15 bymeans of fasteners 22. The valve assembly 13 also includes a stator 23which is generally of a dumbbell configuration in section, as is clearlyshown in FIGURE 4. The stator 23 is suitably secured to the plate 21 inany desired manner, including being integrally formed therewith, andgenerally projects through the housing 11. At the end of the stator 23remote from the plate 21 there is a second plate 24 which is shown to beformed separately from the stator 23, but which also could be integrallyformed therewith.

The rotor assembly 12 includes a rigid rotor 25 which is preferablycarried by a separately formed tubular shaft portion 26 projecting fromopposite ends thereof. It is to be noted that the rotor 25 has arelatively snug fit within the opening 17 in the body while the tubularshaft 26 has a relatively snug fit with respect to the valve assembly13. This is clearly shown in FIGURE 5.

It is to be understood that the tubular shaft 26 may be journalledwithin the housing 11 about the valve assembly 13 in any desired manner,including the utilization of bearing type supports, although none areshown. The tubular shaft 26 is coupled toa drive shaft 27 by means of asutiable coupling 28 which preferably provides a resilient connectionbetween the shaft 27 and the tubular support 26. The rotor 25 has formedin the outer periphery thereof a plurality of recesses 30 which arepreferably evenly spaced about the periphery of the rotor 25. While onlyone row of recesses 30 has been illustrated, it is to be understood thatthe rotor may be provided with everal rows of recesses 30. In each ofthe recesses 30 there is positioned a pocket forming member which isgenerally referred to by the numeral 31. The details of the pocketforming member 31 and the cooperation there of with the recesses 30 willbe described in more detail hereinafter.

It will be noted from FIGURES 6 and 8 in particular that the recesses 30are so configurated whereby for the most part the pocket forming members31 are spaced from the walls thereof. Thus, air and other gases mayfreely flow around the pocket forming members 31.

As is clearly shown in FIGURE 5, the rotor 25 is provided with a pair ofpassages 32 which extend radially in- Wardly from the base of eachrecess 30 and in alignment with a pair of ports 33 extending axiallythrough the tubular shaft 26. Thus, there is freedom of fluid flowbetween the interior of the tubular shaft 26 and the recesses 30, ascontrolled by the valve assembly 13.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and in particular, it will be seen that thedumbbell cross sectional shape of the stator 23 provides, in cooperationwith the tubular shaft 26, a fluid passage 34 which generally opposesthe inlet 18 and a fluid passage 35 which generally opposes the outlet20. The ends of these passages 34 and 35 are 4 closed by abutments whichin the illustrated form of valve assembly are formed by the plates 21and 24.

Each of the passages 34 and 35 is sealed by a sealing member 36 which isof a continuous one-piece construction and is preferably formed of aresilient material. It may be said that the sealing member 36 is in theform of a special O-ring. As is clearly shown in FIGURE 4, the stator 23has a pair of longitudinally extending grooves 37 formed in the outersurface thereof on opposite sides of each of the passages 34 and 35. Thegrooves 37 extend into the plates 21 and 24, as is clearly shown inFIGURE 5. The plates 21 and 24 have formed in the peripheral surfacesthereof annular grooves 38 which extend between the longitudinal grooves37. Thus, the grooves 37 and 38 form seats for the sealing members 36.

It will be readily apparent that inasmuch as the tubular shaft 26 snuglyfits the stator 23 and since the sealing member 36 is of a size tosnugly fill the grooves 37 and 38, the sealing members 36 will be inresilient contact with the inner surface of the tubular shaft 26 andform a seal therewith.

The plate 21 has coupled thereto a vacuum line 40 which opens into thepassage 34 for the purpose of drawing a vacuum within the recesses 30when they are aligned with the inlet 18. The plate 21 also has connectedthereto a gaseous pressure line 41 which opens into the passage 35 forsupplying air or other gases under pressure into the recesses 30 whenthey are aligned with the outlet 20.

The stator 23 also has a central passage 42 which is vented to theatmosphere through a port 43 formed in the plate 21. As is clearly shownin FIGURE 4, the stator 23 also has formed therein two sets of radiatingports 44 and 45 which extend from the passage 42 through the externalsurface thereof and which are positioned for alignment with the ports 33when the respective recesses 30 are in positions intermediate the inlet18 and the outlet 20.

At the inlet 18 the housing 11 has secured thereto an upper productholder which is generally referred to by the numeral 46. It is to benoted that the product holder 46 has a mounting flange 47 which isreleaseably secured to the housing body 14 by means of fasteners 48. Theproduct holder 46 may simply be in the form of a hopper. On the otherhand, the product holder 46 may be the lower portion of a suitablefiller, mixer or combined filler and mixer, such as that disclosed in mycopending application Ser. No. 438,196, filed Mar. 9, 1965, for FillingApparatus, now patent No. 3,334,666, issued August 8, 1967.

In order to facilitate the flow of a product down through the lowerportion of the product holder 46 into the interior of the housing 11 atthe inlet 18, it is to be understood that the product holder 46 and thehousing 11 may have a porous lining 49. The lining 49 will be secured tothe walls of the product holder 46 and the housing 11 in any desiredmanner, and it is preferable that the walls be recessed, as at 50,behind the porous lining 49 for the passage of air therethrough. Air orother gases may be supplied behind the lining 49 through a Supply line51.

GENERAL OPERATION In the operation of the feeder 10, the rotor assembly12 is either constantly rotated or is periodically rotated through apredetermined number of pockets, which pockets are identified by thenumeral 52 and are defined by the pocket forming members 31. As thepockets 52 come into alignment with the inlet 18, the respectivepassages 32 come into communication with the passage 34 and a vacuum isdrawn in the respective recess 30 and then into the pocket 52 throughthe material of the pocket forming member 31. As a result, the productdisposed within the inlet area of the feeder is drawn down into thepocket 52 as it passes along the general area of the inlet 18. Thedrawing of the vacuum within the pocket 52 assures the filling of thepocket with a product material and at the same time assures a uniformityof the product material through the removal of entrapped gases therefromto a uniform percentage. As each pocket 52 passes from the inlet portionof the feeder 10, the product material is levelled flush with the openend of the pocket 52. Thus, a complete and uniform filling of eachpocket 52 is assured.

At this time, it is pointed out that, if desired, the feeder may beprovided with means for varying the volume of the product placed in eachpocket so as to control the amount of material dispensed with eachpocket in accordance with variations in the consistency of thematerials. This controlled volume of the material carried by each pocketmay be in the form of a simple apparatus for scooping out material froma pocket or for squeezing out such material and the mechanism may be ofthe type specifically disclosed in my copending application Ser. No.580,641, filed Sept. 20, 1966, for Package Forming and FillingApparatus.

As a filled pocket 52 passes between the inlet 18 and the outlet 20, therespective passages 32 associated with the pocket 52 come into alignmentwith the passages 44 with the result that the recess 30 of therespective pocket 52 is vented. In this manner, the vacuum is removedfrom the pocket. When a filled pocket 52 comes into alignment with theoutlet 20, the passages 32 associated with the pocket come intocommunication with the passage 35 and gases under pressure are deliveredinto the associated recess 30 and then through the pocket forming member31 so as to force the product out of the pocket 52. This outward fiow ofgases under pressure assures the self-cleaning of the pocket formingmember 31.

As a pocket 52 passes between the outlet 20 and the inlet 18, thepassages 32 associated therewith come into alignment with the passages45 and any pressure within the pocket is vented therefrom prior to thepocket being presented to the inlet 18.

It is to'be understood that in accordance with the particular productbeing handled and the product receiving means associated with the feeder10, the feeder may simply feed material, fill a receptacle or divide theprodnot. 'In certain instances, the feeder 10 may be utilized solely forthe purpose of efficiently delivering a readily fiowable product fromwithin a hopper to suitable conveying means (not shown). In otherinstances, the feeder 10 may be utilized for the accurate filling ofcontainers without weighing due to the fact that a controlled andaccurate weight of a product is received in each pocket 52 as it passesthe inlet.

On the other hand, when the product being conveyed by the feeder 10 isof the type having internal cohesion, such as bread doughs and the like,the feeder 10 may function as a divider to accurately cut off from amass of the material a predetermined weight of the material.

In order to provide for an efiicient operation of the feeder 10, -I havemade numerous improvements therein over similar feeders previouslydevised by me. The principal advance has been made in the constructionof the pocket forming members 31 and, accordingly, these will bedescribed in detail first.

In the past, the filter material employed with fillers of all types,including one-shot fillers and continuously operating fillers, have beenprimarily in the form of porous papers, which have a short life; finescreens, which do not have sufiiciently fine pores to prevent thepassage of very fine powdery material and to which cohesive materialshave a tendency to stick; and sintered stainless steel and polyethylenesheets, which are extremely expensive, difficult to form and to whichcohesive materials have an undesirable tendency to stick. I have foundthat the pocket forming members 31 may be formed of relativelyinexpensive materials which heretofore have not been considered as beingsuitable for the intended purpose.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, it will be seen that there is illustrated amore complex .construction of one of thy pocket forming members 31. Thepocket forming member 31 is of a three-piece construction and includes awire screen basket-like member 60 which is preferably of a one-piececonstruction and pressed from Wire screen. The pocket forming member 31also includes a wire screen basket-like member61 which is of a size andconfiguration to snugly fit within the basket-like member 60. Thebasket-like member 61 is provided with a peripheral mounting flange 62.Like the basket-like member 60, the basket-like member 61 is preferablyof a one-piece construction and is pressed from a single sheet of wirescreen material.

A third and intermediate basket-like member 63 is provided. Thebasket-like member 63 also has a peripheral mounting flange 64. Thebasket-like member 63 is of a relatively thin construction and isclamped between the basket-like members 61 and 60'. Attention is calledto the substantial inward taper on all four sides of members 60' and 61.

The basket-like member 63 is formed of a suitable cloth wherein theweave is sufficiently tight to prevent the passage of minute particleswhile providing the necessary gaseous flow. Such a cloth, if woven ofsuitable stranded materials, will not only be wear resistant, but alsowill present a surface which is extremely friction resistant. Apreferred woven fabric has the primary strands thereof formed of TeflonTFE with the fabric being formed entirely of Teflon TFE or having acotton or similar backing. The cost of this fabric, which iscommercially available, is one which is economically feasible.

In order to facilitate the removal of a product from the basket-likemember 63, it is preferred that the warp of the fabric run in thedirection of product movement with respect to the basket-like member 63.Accordingly, the basket-like member 63 is formed from a three-pieceblank which is illustrated in FIGURE 2 and generally referred to by thenumeral 65.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that the blank 65 includes afirst elongated blank member 66 which is of a configuration so as toform the bottom, two sides and two mounting flanges of the basket-likemember. The three-piece blank 65 also includes second and third blankmembers 67 and 68 which are identical and each of which forms a side anda flange of the basketlike member 63 when they are secured together.

It is to be noted that the warp of the blank members 66, 67 and 68, asindicated by the arrows thereon, are arranged in the direction ofproduct removal out of the basket-like member 63. When the blank members66, 67 and 68 are cut from woven cloth, the blank members 67 and 68 willbe disposed parallel to the blank member 66 and not at right anglesthereto as illustrated in FIG- URE 2. Thus, a saving of material may beaccomplished.

It is to be understood that the three-piece blanks 65 may be securedtogether in any desired manner to form the basket-like member 63. It hasbeen found that both sewing and glueing will suffice. However, theinvention, of course, is not limited to the modes of securing togetherthe blank 65.

Referring now to FIGURES 6 and 8 in particular, it will be seen thatwhen the pocket forming member 31 is of a three-piece construction, thebasket-like members 60, 61 and 63 will snugly fit together with themounting flanges 62 and 64 in face-to-face engagement and the upper edgeof the basket-like member 60 terminating short of the mounting flange64.

Referring now to FIGURE 7 in particular, it will be seen that thebasket-like member 60 is of a relatively coarse screen constructionwhereas the basket-like member 61 is of a relatively fine screenconstruction. It is also to be noted that the orientation of the mesh ofthe basket-like member 61 with respect to the mesh of the basket-likemember 60 is such that the wires thereof are eventlyspaced so as toprovide for a minimum mesh arrangement.

At this time, it is pointed out that for certain products, it will benecessary to only utilize the basket-like member 61 as the entire pocketforming member 31. On the other hand, in certain instances it will bedesired to have the pocket forming member 3l of a double seamconstruction, in which event, the basket-like member 61 will be directlynested Within the basket-like member 60. It is also to be understoodthat there are instances where the basket-like member 63 may be utilizedwith either the basket-like member 61 or the basket-like member 60withoutthe other of the basket-like members.

It has been found that when the feeder 11 is utilized as a doughdivider, the pocket forming member 31 may be formed solely of thebasket-like members 60 and 61. A typical basket-like member 60* is of aNo. 8 mesh and formed of 0.025 wire while a typical basket-like member61 is formed of No. 16 mesh with 0.01 to 012 Wire. It is preferred thatthe wire utilized in forming the basket-like members 60 and 61 be formedof stainless steel although other suitable materials may be utilized.Also, as is illustrated in FIGURE 9, a typical wire 70 may have formedon the exterior surface thereof a coating 71 having a high releasecoefficient, such as polytetrafiuoroethylene. The coating 71 ispreferably applied by spraying and may taper towards the edges thereof.The members 60 and 61 may be coated together after being assembled.

Referring once again to FIGURES 6 and 8 in particular, it will be seenthat each recess 30 is configurated to define a center seat 72 andgenerally corner seats 73 by the forming of large recess panels both atthe bottom and in the walls of the recess 30. Thus, there can be aproper flow of gases around the pocket forming member 31 andtherethrough.

As is clearly shown in FIGURES 6 and 8, when a pocket forming member 31is properly seated within its respective recess 30, the bottom thereofis secured in place by a fastener 74 which enters into the seat 72. Withthe bottom of the pocket forming member 31 so anchored, the mountingflanges 64 and 62 are seated on the peripheral surface of the rotor 25and are secured in place by means of band-like strip 75 which is of aonepiece construction and which snugly fits about the periphery of therotor 25. As is clearly shown in FIGURE 3, the band-like strip 75,although it is of a one-piece construction, has spaced circumferentialstrips 76 connected together at regular intervals by means of cross bars77 with the arrangement of the strips 76 and the cross bars 77 definingwindows 78 in alignment with the pockets 52. The strips 76 and the crossbars 77 are apertured as at 80 for receiving fasteners 81 whichreleaseably secure the band-like strip 75 in place. Of course, theband-like strip 75 secures the pocket forming members 31 in place.

It is preferred that the band-like strip 75 have a surface which willform a seal with the housing body 14. In the preferred construction ofthe band-like strip 75, it is formed from stainless steel and has anexternal coating of polytetrafluoroethylene TFE. The Teflon will form aseal with the housing body 14 during the rotation of the rotor assembly12 within the housing 11 so that the individual pockets 52 will besealed relative to one another intermediate the inlet and the outlet.

When the feeder is utilized as a divider for cohesive material, such asbread dough and the like, it has been found that a feed roller may beadvantageously utilized at the inlet 18. The feed roller, which ispreferably formed of a resilient material and may have a Teflonoutercoating, is best shown in FIGURE 4 and is identified by the numeral82. The feed roller 82 is carried by a shaft 83 and has the peripherythereof disposed in pressure contacting relation with the band-likestrip 75.

In order that the feed roll 82 may be driven at the same peripheralspeed as the band-like strip 75 and in the same direction, the shaft 83is provided witha pinion 84 which meshes with a gear 85 carried by thecoupling 28 or some other part'of'thef tubular shaft 26, which drive isbest shown in FIGURE 5. g

It will be seen from FIGURE 4 that a nip is formed at 86 between thefeed roll 82 and the band-like strip 75. As a pocket 52 passes throughthe nip 86, the dough or other cohesive material is squeezed into thepocket 52 and gradually pinched off at the tail end of the pocket 52. Inthis manner, a complete filling of the pocket, even with a cohesivematerial, is assured.

In the present-day automatic bakeries, the newly prepared bread dough isdivided by a machine which cuts and extrudes the dough to form batchesof loaf size por tions. These machines'have several inherentdeficiencies. In the first place, in order to facilitate the flow of thedough through the machine, mineral oil is applied to the dough inconstant streams as it passes through the divider mechanism thereof withthe result that each loaf size portion is undesirably completely coatedwith mineral oil. A second deficiency of existing dough dividers is thatdue to variance in the gases entrapped within the dough, the loaf sizeportions are 'not of uniform weight, and in order to assure that eachbaked loaf is of a predetermined weight, it is necessary thafan' excessweight of dough be divided out.

Because of the fact that the loaf size portions of dough passing fromthe dough divider are undesirably coated with the mineral oil, it isnecessary that the mineral oil be absorbed. Accordingly, at the present,the newly divided dough is coated with sifted flour after which'thedough is rolled to assure both'the absorption of the mineral oil intothe sifted flour and the" mixing of the mineral oilsifted flour mixtureinto the "remainder of the'dough so as to provide a generally uniformconsistency. This rolling of the flourand mineral oil into the doughresults in an undesired Working of the dough and necessitates an initialproofing which would otherwise be unnecessary.

In accordance with this invention, the dough may be handled without theaddition of any lubricants or other materials which will facilitate thedividing thereof. The newly prepared and initially proofed dough isreceived directly by the dough divider of this invention and withoutundue working of the dough or the adding of any type of coating materialwill divide the dough into loaf size portions ready to be placed intothe'baking pan for the usual further proofing and baking. Furthermore,because the dough is of a uniform consistency when it is tightly drawnwithin the pockets of the dough divider, each loaflike portion will beof a predetermined weight so as to avoid the necessity of providingextra dough to make certain that each baked loaf is of a predeterminedweight.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that a dough dividerformed in accordance with this invention would not only eliminate manyof the unnecessary steps of dough handling required with presentlyutilized dough dividers, but will also eliminate the undesired additiveof mineral oil and sifted flour so that the texture and quality of theresultant baked loaf will=be far superior to that presently possiblewith automatic baking equipment.

I claim:

1. A rotor assembly particularly adapted for use as a component of afiller, divider and like feeder devices for fiowable material, saidrotor assembly'comprising an annular rotor having formed in theperiphery thereof a plurality of recesses, ports extending from saidrecesses through said rotor and opening through the interior thereof, aremovable pocket forming member seated in each recess, said pocketforming members being formed of open mesh material with the openings inthe material being graded in accordance with the product being handled,securing means securing said pocket forming members in said recesses,and each of said pocket forming members including nested wire screenbasket-like members.

2. The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein said securing means includes aperipheral retainer releasably secured to said rotor, said retainerhaving portions surrounding the outer periphery of each pocket formingmember and being adapted to seal each pocket relative to a housingreceiving said rotor assembly.

3. A rotor assembly particularly adapted for use as a component of afiller, divider and like feeder devices for fiowable material, saidrotor assembly comprising an annular rotor having formed in theperiphery thereof a plurality of recesses, ports extending from saidrecesses through said rotor and opening through the interior thereof, aremovable-pocket forming member seated in each recess, said pocketforming members being formed of open mesh material with the openings ofthe material being graded in accordance with the product being handled,securing means securing said pocket forming members in said recesses,said securing means including a peripheral retainer releasably securedto said rotor, said retainer having portions surrounding the outerperiphery of each pocket forming member and being adapted to seal eachpocket relative to a housing receiving said rotor assembly, and saidretainer being in the form of a strip having spaced cut-outscorresponding to said pockets.

4. The rotor assembly of claim 3 wherein said retainer has an exposedsurface selectively formed of polytetrafluoroethylene and similarmaterials having a high release coeflicient.

5. The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein the radially outermost one ofsaid basket-like members is of a finer mesh than the other of saidbasket-like members.

6. A rotor assembly particularly adapted for use as a component of afiller, divider and like feeder devices for fiowable material, saidrotor assembly comprising an annular rotor having formed in theperiphery thereof a plurality of recesses, ports extending from saidrecesses through said rotor and opening through the interior thereof, aremovable pocket forming member seated in each recess, said pocketforming members being formed of open mesh material with the openings inthe material being graded in accordance with the product being handled,securing means securing said pocket forming members in said recesses,and said pocket forming members including nested wire screen basket-likemembers, and an intermediate filter member sandwiched between said wirescreen basket-like members. I

7. A rotor assembly particularly adapted for use as a component of afiller, divider and like feeder devices for fiowable material, saidrotor assembly comprising an annular rotor having formed in theperiphery thereof a plurality of recesses, ports extending from saidrecesses through said rotor and opening through the interior thereof, aremovable pocket forming member seated in each recess, said pocketforming members being formed of open mesh material with the openings inthe material being graded in accordance with the product being handled,securing means securing said pocket forming members in said recesses,and each of said pocket forming members including a fabric filter memberhaving a material engaging surface of a high release coefficient.

8. For use in a rotor assembly of a filler, divider and like feederdevice for fiowable materials, a pocket forming member formed of an openmesh material with the openings thereof being graded in accordance withthe material being handled, and at least the surface of the pocketforming member intended to be contacted by material having a highrelease coefiicient with relation to the material being handled, saidpocket forming member including nested inner and outer wire screenbasket-like members, one of said basket-like members being of a finermesh than the other of said basket-like members.

9. For use in a rotor assembly of a filler, divider and like feederdevice for fiowable materials, a pocket forming member formed of an openmesh material with the openings thereof being graded in accordance withthe material being handled, and at least the surface of the pocketforming member intended to be contacted by material having a highrelease coefficient with relation to the material being handled, saidpocket forming member including nested inner and outer Wire screenbasket-like members, and an intermediate fabric filter member sandwichedbetween said wire screen basket-like members.

10. A feeder of the filler and divider type for fiowable materialscomprising a housing having a cylindrical interior and inlet and outletopenings, a rotor mounted within said housing for continuous rotation,said rotor being annular in section and having a fluid flow controllingstator seated therein, said rotor having a plurality of recesses formedin the exterior surface thereof, a pocket forming member seated in eachrecess and sealed relative to said housing except at said inlet and saidoutlet.

11. The feeder of claim 10 wherein said pocket forming members areretained in place by a band surrounding said rotor and in sealingcontact with said housing, said band having an exposed surface having ahigh release coefficient with respect to the material being handled, andhaving openings therein corresponding to pockets defined by said pocketforming filter members.

12. The feeder of claim 10 together with a feed roller mounted in saidhousing inlet at the rotor exit edge thereof and in opposed contactingrelation to said rotor, and means driving opposed surfaces of said rotorand said feed roller in like directions to squeeze a product into saidrotor pockets and separate product within said housing inlet fromproduct in a rotor pocket as the rotor pocket passes out ofcommunication with said housing inlet.

13. In combination with a rotor and valve forming stator assembly, saidstator being formed with a longitudinal port forming recess and endabutments at the ends of said recess, a sealing arrangement comprisinglongitudinal grooves in said stator on opposite sides of said portforming recess, annular grooves in said end abutments generallycircumferentially coextensive with said port forming recess andconnecting together said longitudinal grooves, and a single continuoussealing member in said grooves contacting said rotor and forming acomplete seal around said port forming recess.

14. The rotor assembly of claim 3 wherein said retainer has an exposedsurface selectively formed of tetrafiuoroethylene and similar materialshaving a high release 00- efficient.

15. The feeder of claim 10 wherein said pocket forming members areformed of an open mesh woven crossed strand material and having exposedsurfaces having a high release coetlicient.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,424,189 7/ 1947 Randall 2491133,001,582 9/1961 Kindseth et al. 249113 X 3,146,801 9/1964 Wilson.3,205,837 9/1965 Fay. 2,639,213 5/1953 Barth. 2,720,353 10/1955 Stirn etal. 14l1 FOREIGN PATENTS 248,827 3/1926 Great Britain.

EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

